Catholic Social Services is committed to ensuring the safety and wellbeing of our staff, our volunteers and of all the people that we work with in the community.

Safeguarding is promoting an environment which respects and acknowledges the dignity of each human being, and where people feel valued and safe. An important aspect of safeguarding is responding to concerns of harm or abuse. Pope Francis has made it clear he expects the Catholic Church on every level to implement whatever steps are necessary to ensure the protection of children and vulnerable adults and to respond to their needs with fairness and mercy.

Catholic Social Services, as part of the Archdiocese of Wellington, is subject to the safeguarding policy, standards and guidelines developed by the National Office for Professional Standards (NOPS). For more information and to view these documents, please see the NOPS website: https://safeguarding.catholic.org.nz/documents-policies/

Catholic Social Services is also accredited by Te Kahui Kahu as a level 2 social services provider. This means we are audited every three years to ensure our processes and systems meet the accreditation standard requirements for our community-based social work. More information on these can be found here: https://www.tekāhuikāhu.govt.nz/accreditatino/standards.html

If you wish to make a complaint or voice a concern about Catholic Social Services: please contact the Archdiocese’s Complaints Officer, who will assist you with further information about the complaint process, and help direct your concern or complaint to the most appropriate person.

Phone: 0800 825 528
Email: complaints@wn.catholic.org.nz

If your complaint or concern is about abuse then please contact the National Office for Professional Standards:

National Office for Professional Standards (NOPS):
Tel 0800 114 622
prof.standards@nzcbc.org.nz
Tel 03 365 1993, 027 540 6778 for Director, (Virginia Noonan).
You can be assured of confidentiality whatever way you make contact.